STUDY GUIDEDeveloped by Sarah Burakowski

HIDDEN GOLDSTUDY GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTSDeveloped by Sarah Burakowski, B.A., B.Ed.

© COPYWRITE 2015, ELLA BURAKOWSKI

Book Summary ................................................................................................ 1 - 4Before Reading ...................................................................................................... 4Before Reading Discussions ................................................................................. 4

PART ONE – LIFE IN PINCZOWChapter 1 – A Son, 1930......................................................................................... 5Chapter 2 – David .................................................................................................. 5Chapter 3 – Anti-Semitism Grows, 1936 .............................................................. 5Chapter 4 – The Churchyard 1939 ........................................................................ 6Chapter 5 – Rebuilding ......................................................................................... 6

PART TWO – ON THE RUNChapter 6 – Preparing for the Worst, October 4th, 1942 ...................................... 7Chapter 7 – Preparation ........................................................................................ 8Chapter 8 – Discarded and Surrounded, October 7, 1942 ................................... 8Chapter 9 – Dzialoszyce ........................................................................................ 8Chapter 10 – Aaron’s Story .................................................................................... 8Chapter 11 – The Dzialoszyce Ghetto ................................................................... 9Chapter 12 – Life in Labour Gang ......................................................................... 9Chapter 13 – The Dream ....................................................................................... 9Chapter 14 – The Savior ...................................................................................... 10Chapter 15 – Josef and Nessa .............................................................................. 10Chapter 16 – Befriending the Enemy ................................................................. 10Chapter 17 – A New Plan .................................................................................... 10Chapter 18 – Tricking Hanosz ............................................................................ 11Chapter 19 – A New Farmer ............................................................................... 11Chapter 20 – Preparations ................................................................................. 11

PART THREE – THE BARNChapter 21 – Moving in – November 21, 1942 .................................................... 12Chapter 22 – The Stanczyks ................................................................................ 12Chapter 23 – Life in Confinement, Winter 1943 ................................................ 13Chapter 24 – Close Call ....................................................................................... 13Chapter 25 – Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Spring 1943 .......................................... 13Chapter 26 – No More Money ............................................................................. 13Chapter 27 – Summer 1943, Breaking the News ................................................ 14Chapter 28 – It Must Be Perfect .......................................................................... 14Chapter 29 – Walk of Hope, August 1943 ........................................................... 14Chapter 30 – Buried Treasure ............................................................................. 14Chapter 31 – The Long Wait ................................................................................ 15Chapter 32 – Decisions ....................................................................................... 15Chapter 33 – What Goes Around, Comes Around .............................................. 15Chapter 34 – January 1944, Cold and Starving .................................................. 15Chapter 35 – When Hope is Gone, May 1944 ..................................................... 16Chapter 36 – In God’s Hands, Fall 1944 .............................................................. 16Chapter 37 – The Russian Army Arrives, January 1945 ..................................... 16

PART FOUR – MANY YEARS LATERChapter 38 – After the War .................................................................................. 17

AFTER READING DISCUSSION QUESTIONSAfter Reading Discussion Questions .................................................................. 18

HIDDEN GOLDSTUDY GUIDE

Part 1 – Life in Pinczow

Hidden Gold opens with the birth of David in 1930 in Pinczow, Poland. A little brother for 11 year old Shoshana, and 9 year old Esther.

Pinczow, Poland, was a comfortable place for Leib and Hanna Gold to raise their family. Hanna and Leib were a power couple. While Leib, a member of the town council and businessman travelled, Hanna ran the two stores and their family like a well-oiled machine.

But in the late 1930s, acts of anti-Semitism grew more frequent in the town until they became part of everyday life.

On September 7, 1939, German tanks stormed into Pinczow, rounded up the town’s Jews and herded the ones they didn’t murder into a churchyard. With a large submachine gun pointed at them, the Golds and their fellow Jews watched from behind locked gates as the Nazis burned down their homes and stores. After a day of fear and uncertainty, the rumbling tanks rolled out of Pinczow.

The locks on the courtyard gate had already been broken. Leib and his family walked back through town, past the rows of twisted bodies and through the putrid smell of burnt flesh. Their home was in ruins. As they stood staring at the smoldering embers, nine-year-old David looked up at his father and asked, “Tateh, why did they do this to us?”

Book Summary

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With no place to live, Leib turned to his friend and fellow councilman Marian Wicinski, who offered to house the family while Leib, called in favors to rebuild his house. Marian lived on the outskirts of Pinczow and because he was a Christian Pole, his property was not destroyed. Marian had a special bond with young David, who spent every Saturday after synagogue helping him with his horses and doing odd jobs on his farm. Being a bachelor, Marian treated David like a son.

By 1941, the Golds were back in their newly built home, preoccupied with everyday life, and like so many other Jews, they went on with their lives and tried not to think of the dangers growing around them.

Part 2 – On the Run

On October 4, 1942, once again the Nazi troops marched into town and began rounding up what remained of the Jewish population to send on transports to the Treblinka Death Camp.

Surrounded by the Germans and with no real plan in place, the Gold family sat in their salon like chickens waiting for the slaughter. Hours passed. Then they heard a faint knock at the door. Marian had arrived to save David. Leib commanded his son to go. Twelve-year-old David pleaded to stay. He wanted to die with his family. But his father was adamant. In tears, David followed Marian into the night. A few hours later, Hanna woke from a nightmare to discover that Shoshana and Esther were also gone, undoubtedly having followed their little brother.

Hanna was so distraught that Leib could not calm her. Finally he handed her a burlap sack filled with money and told her to follow her children to Marian’s. He kissed her goodbye and promised to join her by morning.

For most of the following day Hanna waited anxiously for Leib, but he did not come.

Marian’s brother-in-law would be coming home soon, and being the head of the Polish police in Pinczow, Marian knew he would show no mercy to these Jews. He had to find a new place to hide them all.

Marian knew of a farmer who would hide them for a fee. Through back roads he got them to what he hoped would be safety, but as soon as Marian left, the farmer chased the Gold family off the property, stealing their money.

Hanna and her children were completely on their own. They didn’t get far before being mobbed by villagers, who taunted and threatened to kill them. They managed to escape and make it all the way to Dzialoszyce, 30 kilometers away. Leib had a cousin there they could stay with.

After a month of hiding, fresh Nazi deportations meant it was time to leave Dzialoszyce. On the night before they were to leave, Hanna’s late mother came to her in a dream and told her to sit tight. Someone was coming to rescue them. The next day, a strange woman appeared at the door. She asked only two questions, “Are you the Gold family? Do you have money?” When Hanna answered in the affirmative, the stranger offered to save them and lead them through the sewers to the outskirts of town where the woman’s husband waiting.

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The stranger’s names were Nessa and Jozef and they offered to take the Golds to a Polish farmer in the village of Kolkow, who would shelter them.

But Shoshana was suspicious and discovered they were being led into a trap. Their supposed saviours were actually Jewish thieves who survived by bringing wealthy Jews to this farmer to be murdered for their money. Nessa and Jozef were paid a handsome fee for their role in providing these wealthy families.

But soon there would be no more wealthy Jewish families to bring, and this evil farmer would surely turn on Nessa and Jozef, Shoshana and Hanna proposed an alternative business deal. With the Gold’s money and Nessa and Jozef’s connections Jozef could find a more honest farmer to hide all six of them.

Part 3 – The Barn

For a monthly fee, Wiktor Stanczyk, also a farmer in Kolkow, became their new landlord. He built a hidden enclosure in his barn to confine the six Jews. Now Hanna and her children shared a tiny crawlspace with the two predators who’d been willing to see them dead only days before. The cramped quarters and lack of food soon brought out Jozef’s abusive behavior. He beat his wife and stole her rations. The Golds had no choice but to sit quietly and watch, although Esther snuck some of her family’s own food to Nessa.

By the late spring of 1943 Hanna’s money ran out, leaving Stanczyk with a dilemma. Without Hanna’s money he couldn’t feed them. Yet if he evicted them they could turn him and his family in, if they were to get caught. At Jozef’s suggestion, Shoshana agreed to walk back to Pinczow to retrieve money Leib had buried in the cellar of their home. The Stanczyks helped her clean up for the journey. With her blue eyes and perfect dialect she looked and sounded the part of a Polish woman. Carrying forged Christian identification papers safely in her purse, she anxiously walked the ten kilometers through the forest to town, but the money was nowhere to be found. She returned empty handed.

The six concealed Jews survived on next to nothing. Almost more starved for news than for food, they clung onto bits of information they could get from Stanczyk, any signs that the war was coming to an end.

The winter of 1944 was cold and relentless. They froze, growing weaker and weaker by the day. Each night they escaped into sleep, oblivious to the mice scurrying over their bodies and the lice eating away at their skin.

By spring 1944, Hanna faced an impossible decision: to watch her children slowly starve to death or to mercifully end their lives. Finally she decided to end their suffering. She instructed Shoshana to return to Pinczow and meet with her father’s former pharmacist to get four cyanide pills. Once again she returned empty-handed. Their fate would remain in the hands of God.

In January 1945, the Russian army liberated Kolkow. The six Jews emerged from the hole they called home for the past 26 months. Their bodies looked like skeletons and they could barely walk, but they had survived. Hanna and her children headed for Pinczow, hoping to find Leib and reclaim their home. They would never see Jozef and Nessa again.

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Part 4 – Many Years Later

David Gold had never imagined he would go back to relive his days of horror again. Yet here he was driving with his grandson Jordan, down the country road in Kolkow, Poland. David stared out the window and thought about how the war had affected the lives of his sisters and mother and reminisced about each of their lives including his own. He was the only one left and it was up to him to show Jordan that The Holocaust was not just a story he learned in school – it was his legacy.

When they arrived at the farm David stood for a moment staring at the old dilapidated barn that had been his prison and his salvation. He looked at his grandson, who was now the same age David had been when he entered the cramped living space that would be his home for more than two years. “Come mayn zis kind, my sweet child, and I will show you how your Saba survived the war.”

Assess students’ prior knowledge of the Holocaust by having them brainstorm what they already know about this time in history and what they would like to know or are curious about.

Have students research a particular aspect of the Holocaust and share the information with each other.

OR

Share the following videos about the Holocaust with the students, giving them a frame of reference for what was happening in Europe (especially Poland) during this period in history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VGU9gMoNSA (3:53)

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_nm.php?ModuleId=10005143&MediaId=7827 (6:34)

What events can suddenly change the course of a person’s life? What possible affects could such events have on the person? How could such events forever change that person’s life or the way they perceive life?

What would you do in order to survive? To what lengths would you go to help someone you love survive? Explain in detail.

BEFORE READING

BEFORE READING DISCUSSION

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PART 1Life in Pinczow

Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1 – A Son 1930

The Golds are a wealthy respected family living in Pinczow, Poland. Hannah, the matriarch of the family handles the family businesses. Her husband Leib is an elected town alderman, a businessman and family man. They have 3 children. As the book begins, Shoshana, the eldest is eleven years old, her sister Esther is nine and they share in the joyous birth of David, a son who would ensure the family name carries on.

Chapter 2 – David

In this chapter we catch a glimpse of the everyday life of the Gold Family. Although the Great Depression causes growing anti-Semitism in Europe, life goes on normally for the Golds. In 1933, David is just a toddler when Adolph Hitler is elected Chancellor of Germany.

Chapter 3 – Anti-Semitism Grows, 1936

With the growth of Anti-Semitism in Pinczow, Leib begins making plans to move his family to Palestine. (present day Israel) When a letter comes from his cousin Isaac expressing concern over the fighting between Jews and Arabs in the Holy Land, Leib reluctantly puts his plans on hold and tries to make life more comfortable for his family, in Pinczow.

Leisure time – centre, Leib Gold playing chess with friends

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Chapter 4 – The Churchyard 1939

One day, when Leib and Hannah hear over the radio that the Germans have infiltrated Poland, they began collecting all their valuables and begin to think of a place to hide their family.

When the Germans finally enter Pinczow, the Golds along with a Polish soldier and others from the same block decide to hide in a large brick wine cellar under their apartment building. Hearing Germans yell at them to come out of the cellar, Leib decides to send Shoshana out to ask a German soldier to spare their lives. The soldier agrees on the condition that they all came out of the cellar with their hands in the air.

The Golds and those hiding with them come out of the cellar with their hands held high only to see dead bodies scattered in the street. The German soldiers push them into the courtyard of the town church, where half the town stood surrounded by the soldiers. Although the men of the town were separated from the women, Leib catches Hannah’s eye and motions for her to come with him. Unnoticed and together with their 3 children, Hannah and Leib enter the Church where they are able to find water and solitude.

Chapter 5 – Rebuilding

The German tanks leave Pinczow and the Jews in the courtyard are free to leave. Charred debris is all that is left of the Gold’s home and stores. They cherish the framed family portrait they find in the rubble.

The Golds spend the night in the park and in the morning make their way to Marian’s house. Marian, a close Polish family friend gives them refuge in his home. While safe at Marian’s, Leib works hard rebuilding the inside of their house, since they were lucky to have found the main structure of their house in tact.

- What do you think of Leib’s decision to send Shoshana out of the cellar to confront the German soldier?- Would you have done the same thing in his position?Give reasons for your answer using evidence from the text and your own ideas.

- How does Leib explain to David, the Germans’ hatred towards the Jews?- Write about a time where you or someone you know was made a scapegoat for someone else’s misfortune. Describe the situation in detail, discussing what happened and how the characters felt.- What was life like for the Jews of Pinczow for the next 3 years?

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PART 2On The Run

Chapters 6-20

Chapter 6 – Preparing for the Worst, October 4th, 1942

Life for the Jews of Poland becomes more and more dangerous. With the passing of the German decree on October 4, 1942, stating that any Jew found on the street would be shot, the Gold family finds themselves confined to their home. One day Marian appears at their doorstep prepared to take David into hiding. Very unhappy at having to leave his family, David follows his father’s orders and reluctantly leaves with Marian. Marian hides David under some straw in his stable.

Worried about their brother, Shoshana and Esther sneak out of their house in the middle of the

night and follow David to Marian’s, where Marian hides them in his stable. Hannah soon follows only after she makes Leib promise to join them the next day.

Jews of Pinczow and surrounding towns being herded to the transports en-route to Treblinka

- Do you think Esther and Shoshana were right in following David to Marian’s house?Give reasons for your answer.- Do you think Leib will join his family at Marian’s? Give reasons for your answer.��,Q�WKLV�FKDSWHU��+DQQDK�KDV�WKH�¿UVW�RI�PDQ\�GUHDPV�WKDW�ZRXOG�EH�LQVWUXPHQWDO�LQ�shaping her family’s journey. As you read the book, document each dream and its impact on the lives of the Gold family.

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Chapter 7 – Preparation It was a tearful reunion for Hannah and the Gold Children at Marian’s. They were all worried for

Leib when they heard that the Germans rounded up the Jews of Pinczow and transported them to Treblinka.

Marian knows that he can’t hide the Golds for much longer. He remembers that Leib had told him about a deal he had struck earlier with a fellow businessman named Pilarski, to hide David. He decides to take the Golds to Pilarski for safety. Before she left, Leib had given Hannah money she could use to buy their safety. Giving David a knife for protection, Marian and the Golds set off for Pilarski’s farm.

Chapter 8 – Discarded and Surrounded, October 7, 1942

For $3000 zloty, Pilarski reluctantly agrees to hide the Gold family. He hides them in an old, smelly, battered wooden structure behind his stable. It doesn’t take long before Polarski changes his mind and orders the Golds to get off his farm. Hannah and her children begin to retrace their footsteps back to Marian’s when Poles who want to kill them or turn them into the Nazis surround them. Using their instincts and with some luck, the Golds are able to save themselves and head for a town called Dzialoszyce.

Chapter 9 – Dzialoszyce

Weak and tired the Gold’s discover from a Polish farmer they meet, that they have been walking in the wrong direction. Using the money she had, Hannah pays the farmer to take them to Dzialoszyce, all the while sucking on the grass to get some water from the dew.

Chapter 10 – Aaron’s Story

Although the farmer only takes them part way, the Golds follow his directions and make their way to Dzialoszyce. Dzialoszyce was not a closed ghetto, however Jews were not allowed to leave. German tanks and trucks patrolled the streets, and so in the darkness of night, the Golds enter the city and make their way to their cousin Aaron’s house.

Upon reaching the house, they find a bereaved Aaron sitting at the kitchen table. He proceeds to tell them that the Nazis had killed his wife and children. He tells them that he and his brother were sent to a labour camp in Plaszow from which they escaped, and on his return the house was empty.

- Why do you think Pilarski had second thoughts about hiding the Golds? Include information about propaganda in your answer.

- Aaron’s story is very similar to many of the stories told by Jews living in small Polish towns. In your own words, write about what happened to Aaron and his family.- What do you think will happen to Aaron now? Give reasons for your answer.

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Chapter 11 – The Dzialoszyce Ghetto

The Golds find safety and warmth in Aaron’s house, until one day the Jewish police come to the house and take David away to work on the roads outside of the town.

Chapter 12 – Life in Labour Gang

Hannah and her daughters worry about twelve year old David until he returns to Aaron’s house after spending the day working on the roads. As he goes to sleep, he winces in pain from being beaten by the Polish guards. He sleeps through the night until he is woken at 5 a.m. to once again join the labour gang.

Chapter 13 – The Dream

The Golds continue to make their life in Dzialoszyce. One Saturday, David goes to the Synagogue and meets a Rebbe who tells him that he, David, would survive the war. The author writes in describing that moment:

“ Those words stayed with David like a Cloak of armour. “ (pg. 99)

On November 7, 1942 Hannah hears rumours that the Germans are making their way to Dzialoszyce to remove the remaining Jews. She and the children decide to head north to the forest where the trees could shield them and where they might meet up with other Jews. Having made the decision to leave, the Golds go to sleep. That night Hannah has a dream. In her dream, Hannah’s mother spoke to her and said:

“You will not leave in the morning. Stay exactly where you are, and someone will come to rescue you.” (pg. 101)

The decision was made to stay and not run.

- Describe what life was like in the Dzialoszyce Ghetto.- Do you think you could have survived living in the Ghetto? Give reasons for your answer.- Do you think power changes people? Explain using evidence from the text and your own experiences.

- Is the simile the author uses about the words staying with David like a cloak of armour effective in describing how David feels? Explain.- Once again Hannah has a dream that would be instrumental in shaping her family’s journey. As you continue to read, document this dream and its impact on the lives of the Gold family.- Do you think Hannah made the right decision in following her mother’s words in the dream? Give reasons for your answer.

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Chapter 14 – The Savior

The Gold children do not agree with their mother’s decision not to escape into the woods. They resign themselves to staying, when they hear a knock on the windowpane. It is a Jewish woman named Nessa.

She had heard that the Gold’s have money and she offers to take them to a Polish farmer outside of town who is willing to hide Jews for money. This farmer, Hanosz, was paying Nessa for bringing him Jews. The Golds leave with Nessa, following her through the sewers.

Chapter 15 – Josef and Nessa

Once Nessa and the Golds come out of the sewers, they meet Josef, Nessa’s husband who had been waiting for them with a horse drawn wagon. They all climb into the wagon and head for Hanosz’s farm.

Feeling apprehensive about what they were doing, Shoshana tries to engage Nessa in conversation. She discovers that Nessa and Josef are both Jews. Nessa had grown up in Dzialoszyce, but moved to Kolkow after marrying Josef. When the Nazis entered Dzialoszyce, all the Jews were rounded up and Nessa’s family was among the Jews taken to the transports in Miechow.

Chapter 16 – Befriending the Enemy

Shoshana continues to engage Nessa in conversation, hoping to befriend her and gain some information. Shoshana shares information about her own family with Nessa and asks her about her family. She wanted Nessa to view the Golds as real people who had suffered just like her.

Shoshana succeeds in convincing Nessa and Josef that they too may be in danger, and that Hanosz may not be trustworthy. The Golds, Josef and Nessa change their plans and devise a plan to find another farmer to hide all six of them.

Chapter 17 – A New Plan

Josef and Nessa agreed to a new plan because the Golds promised to also pay for their hiding. The plan was that Josef and Nessa would deliver the Golds to Hanosz who would be paid up front with the promise of more money.

They would tell Hanosz that the Golds have more money and gold hidden in Pinczow, and that Josef, would go to Pinczow to get the money.

- On page125, Josef says about the Golds, “ I don’t know if they are just smart or just lucky.” What do you think? Are the Golds smart or just lucky? Give reasons for your answer.

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Chapter 18 – Tricking Hanosz

In the morning Josef sets out for Kowalski’s, a neighbouring farmer who might have information about the situation in the towns surrounding them. He also wanted to make an appearance at Kowalski’s in case Kowalski and Hanosz end up talking to each other. After meeting with Kowalski, Josef makes his way to the farm of Wiktor Stanczyk, the farmer he was hoping would hide them all. His plan was to secure a hiding place for himself, Nessa and the Golds on Stanczyk’s farm. He would then tell Hanosz that the Germans were coming, and to be safe, he needs to take the Golds out of the house and return them after the Germans finish their sweep of Kolkow.

Chapter 19 – A New Farmer

Stanczyk is happy to see Josef who he had believed to be dead. Stanczyk and Josef had built up a relationship over the years while doing business together. The Stanczyk family had very little and their farmhouse was run down.

Josef shares his plan with Wiktor. If Wiktor agrees to hide Josef, Nessa, and the Golds, in his barn, he would be paid handsomely and would have enough money to feed his family. For the price of 7,000 Zloty, Wiktor agrees to the plan.

Chapter 20 – Preparations

Josef convinces Hanosz that he needs a few more days to put his plan of going to Pinczow for the hidden gold and money, into action. In the meantime, David helps Hanosz on the farm while Josef and Stanczyk get the barn ready for their arrival. On November 20, 1942 the barn is finally ready to hide the 6 Jews.

- What do you think of Josef’s plan? Give reasons.

- Did Wiktor Stanczyk make the right decision in agreeing to this plan? Explain.

- On page 151, Josef thinks about Hanosz and says to himself, “ This stupidman thinks his life will be spared because he’s not a Jew? He’s going to learn the hard way.” What do you think Josef means by those words?Do you agree with him? Give reasons for your answer.

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PART 3The Barn

Chapters 21-37

Chapter 21 – Moving in – November 21, 1942

On the night of November 21, Josef acting panicky and frantic announces to Hanosz that the Germans are on their way into Kolkow and that Hanosz must get the Golds off his harm.

Josef offers to take the Golds and hide with them in the woods until the Germans leave Kolkow. He tells Hanosz that once the coast is clear, and the Germans had left Kolkow, they would all go to Pinczow to collect the hidden money.

The Golds, Josef and Nessa leave Hanosz for Stanczyk’s farm where they would hide in a specially built enclosure in Wiktor Stanczyk’s barn. With the payment of 7,000 zloty, the 6 Jews enter the small crawl space that would become their haven.

Chapter 22 – The Stanczyks

Although unhappy with her husband’s decision to harbour Jews, Lujia, Wiktor’s wife prepares food for the 6 Jews. Wiktor not only gives them food which he suggests they ration, he gives them books to read and paper and a pencil to help pass the time.

Once the Jews are safely hidden in the enclosure, and Wiktor’s children are told to never enter the barn for fear of a dangerous creature, Wiktor decides to look through the Golds’ bags and finds gold jewellery, silver candlesticks, and a silver Kiddush cup. He decides to hide the valuables.

The actual barn where the Gold’s were hidden with Nessa and Josef

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Chapter 23 – Life in Confinement, Winter 1943

While in hiding, the six Jews read, play games and tell each other stories. David keeps busy making lists of what he eats. It is cold in the barn and the Golds have to share their space with field mice also trying to stay warm. The loss of freedom and dignity takes its toll on the Golds and chips away at their morale.

On February 2, 1943 Max Stanczyk, Wiktor’s brother, delivers the happy news that the Russians had defeated the Germans in Stalingrad. Wiktor shares the information with Shoshana whom he has taken a liking to. The news changes the mood in the barn and gives the Golds a semblance of hope for a short period of time.

Chapter 24 – Close Call

One morning, two German SS officers appear at the Stanczyk’s doorway. They are there looking for runaways and conducting a search for hiding Jews. They begin looking through the house, cellar and barn. The Jews remain very silent as the officers entered the barn and began stabbing at the bundles of grain piled on top of their enclosure. Finding nothing the Germans leave. Although the entire search only lasted a few moments, it took a long time for that day to dissipate.

Chapter 25 – Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Spring 1943

With the statement: “Some of you Jews have more guts than brains, “ Wiktor Stanczyk tells Shoshana about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

Chapter 26 – No More Money

By July, the Golds had run out of money. Josef’s plan was for Shoshana to walk the 3 hours through the woods to Pinczow in hopes of finding the hidden money and valuables that Leib had buried.

��,I�\RX�KDG�WR�EH�FRQ¿QHG�LQ�D�VPDOO�SODFH�D�ORQJ�SHULRG�RI�WLPH��KRZ�ZRXOG�\RX�spend your time? Explain in detail.

- How did the Gold siblings show their defeat and loss of hope?- 'R�\RX�IHHO�WKH\�ZHUH�MXVWL¿HG�LQ�IHHOLQJ�WKLV�ZD\"�*LYH�UHDVRQV�IRU�\RXU�DQVZHU�

- Research information about life in the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. - Do you agree with Stanczyk’s statement that the Jews in the Ghetto had more guts than brains? Give reasons for your answer.

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Chapter 27 – Summer 1943, Breaking the News

Wiktor was furious on hearing that the Golds had run out of money. Josef however, tries to put his mind at ease by sharing his plan with him. Both Wiktor and Max, his brother, like the plan and so it was decided that on the next full moon, Shoshana would head for Pinczow.

Chapter 28 – It Must Be Perfect It was decided that on Sunday August 15 at 4:00 am Shoshana would leave for Pinczow. It would

be quiet in town on Sunday morning as most people would be home from work and going to Church. Shoshana would make her way to Marian’s place and hide in his stable until he came out.

Lujia helped Shoshana wash and dress so that she looked respectable. With a jar of water, David’s knife and false identification papers, Shoshana said good-bye to her mother and siblings and set off for Pinczow.

Chapter 29 – Walk of Hope, August 1943

With the full moon shining brightly, Shoshana makes her way through the forest until she reaches Marian’s house, and hides in his barn. Marian is shocked at finding Shoshana in his barn. He believed that the entire Gold family had died.

Shoshana tells Marian that she, her mother and siblings are paying a farmer to hide them in his barn, but their money has run out. She continues to tell him that she has come to find some information about her father and take back the money he hid.

After giving his sister, Frania, a head’s up, Marian brings Shoshana into the house. To not raise any suspicion with Frania’s husband and niece, and to ensure Shoshana’s safety, it was decided that Shoshana would use the name Kristina – the name that was in her new Identification papers – and that Marian would say that she was the daughter of an old friend. After eating, Shoshana accompanies the whole family to Church.

Chapter 30 – Buried Treasure

After church, Zosia, Frania’s niece, accompanies Shoshana to town on the pretext that Shoshana is looking for her uncle. Marian gives Shoshana a big straw hat to help hide her face, and the two young women head down the road to the centre of town.

When the two women reach a tall willow tree near what was once Shoshana’s home, Shoshana is surprised to see two strange people leaving her house. She leaves Zosia, sitting on the bench by the willow tree and crosses the street to her old house. She carefully goes down the cellar stairs and upon entering the cellar goes to the back and starts digging. She digs frantically but finds nothing.

The two women return to Marian’s house where Shoshana rests and has something to eat. Empty-handed and with the realization that there is no more money to buy her family’s safety, it is decided that Shoshana will return to Stanczyk’s barn, in the morning.

- Was this a good plan? Give reasons for your answer.

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Chapter 31 – The Long Wait

As Shoshana rests at Marian’s, it is a long and torturous night in the barn as the Golds await Shoshana’s return. Early in the morning, Marian accompanies Shoshana out of town to the edge of the forest. Before saying good-bye, he gives her 1000 zloty.

Chapter 32 – Decisions

The Golds excitement at seeing Shoshana is overshadowed by the fact that she comes back empty handed.

Chapter 33 – What Goes Around, Comes Around

With no money, the Golds’ three meals a day dwindles to one meal a day. They are supplied a loaf of bread every two weeks and a jug of water every morning. This was to be shared amongst the six people hiding in the enclosure. At times, they would all get a large pot of starchy water with either a few noodles or a couple of potatoes.

With winter approaching, once again, the Golds prepare themselves for the cold days ahead.

Through the slats in the barn, David could see some of what was going on outside. One day he saw a funeral procession with eleven coffins. The Golds soon learn from Wiktor, that the dead were men who had been known to be Nazi collaborators. Jewish Partisans had killed them in the night.

Chapter 34 – January 1944, Cold and Starving

After watching the procession, Shoshana decides to give Hannah the 1000 zloty Marian had given her. January was a very difficult month for the Golds. There was no food, no hope, only the unbearable pain and itching caused by vermin and lice. By spring their misery had turned to real desperation.

- What do you think happened to the money and valuables? Give reasons for your answer.

- What do you think will happen to the Golds, Josef and Nessa, now? Support your answer with information from the text and your own ideas.

- Do you think the title; “What Goes Around Comes Around” is reflective of what happens in this chapter? Give reasons for your answer.

- How do you feel about the Jewish Partisans? Give reasons for your answer.

At the end of the chapter, the author writes, “ it was up to her (Hannah) to end their suffering. She knew what had to be done.”

- What do you think Hannah will do? Give reasons for your answer.

- Do you think having HOPE is important for survival? Give reasons for your answer.

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Chapter 35 – When Hope is Gone, May 1944

With no food, dignity or freedom, Hannah quickly begins to lose hope. She devises a plan that would release all of them from the horrid conditions they were living in. The plan once again involved Shoshana.

Shoshana would return to Pinczow and go to Gorski’s pharmacy. Gorski was an old friend of Leib’s, and Hannah was sure that using the 1000 zloty Marian had given them, Shoshana would be able to buy four cyanide capsules from him.

Before her mother could change her mind, and without her family’s knowledge, Shoshana leaves the barn. Looking disheveled and without false identification papers, Shoshana once again heads for Pinczow.

Gorski was horrified at seeing Shoshana. He made her some tea and gave her a piece of cake. He was very reluctant to give Shoshana the cyanide capsules. He told her that the Russians were close to defeating the Nazis and soon she and her family would be liberated. With hope, Shoshana returns to the barn without the cyanide.

Chapter 36 – In God’s Hands, Fall 1944

Shoshana returns to the barn stronger then ever in the belief that they would be liberated and walk out of the barn one day. She believed that they would find Leib and the family would once again be complete.

Spring turns into summer, summer into fall and fall into winter. The Golds didn’t believe that they could survive a third winter in the barn. The Russians were approaching and the Germans were preparing for a long battle.

Chapter 37 – The Russian Army Arrives, January 1945

Through the crack in the barn wall, David reports all the movements outside, until his mother pulls him into the enclosure.

The Russian army had finally arrived. Throughout the night, the Golds could hear artillery fire, and throughout the day they could hear soldiers pass on either side of the barn.

In the evening, Wiktor Stanczyk walks into the barn and announces that the Germans were gone. There were only Russian soldiers left. The Golds were finally free.

In the morning, the Gold family leaves the enclosure, thanks the Stanczyk family and asks them for Leib’s Kiddush cup which had been in the bag they had initially given him.

Without much more than a quick good-bye to each other, the Golds and Lanskis part ways. The Golds head home to look for Leib and the life they left behind.

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PART 4Many Years Later

Chapters 38

Chapter 38 – After the War

On their return to Pinczow, the Golds soon realize that there was no home to return to. The Poles had taken over Jewish homes and businesses and anti-Semitism was everywhere. Like so many other Jews with nowhere to go, they ended up in Foehrenwald, a displaced persons camp in Germany. From there each one of them moved on to a new life, trying to leave the horrors of the Holocaust behind.

As an adult, David returns to Pinczow and Kolkow to relive his horrors. He revisits his home that was stolen from his family and the barn that both entombed and saved him.

,Q�WKLV�FKDSWHU��ZH�¿QG�RXW�WKDW�WKH�*ROGV�QHYHU�UHXQLWHG�ZLWK�/HLE�- Do you think that Leib would have been proud of what became of each one of them DQG�KRZ�WKH\�VXUYLYHG�WKLV�KRUUL¿F�WLPH�LQ�KLVWRU\"��*LYH�UHDVRQV�IRU�\RXU�DQVZHU�

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1. What role do Hannah’s premonitions play in the book? Would you follow someone’s premonitions blindly? Give reasons for your answer.

2. What inner or outer forces helped the Gold family endure horrible conditions and survive?

3. What role does “chance” have in the survival of the Gold family and what role does “choice” play in their survival? Discuss.

4. What were your first impressions of the main characters? At what point did your impression change and why? Use evidence from the text and your own ideas to support your answer.

5. Choose a character from the novel and describe how he or she changed as a result of the story and what was happening to them.

6. If you had the opportunity to talk to any of the characters at any point in the story who would it be and what would you say. Give reasons for your answer

7. Select the character you admire the most and explain why.

8. What would influence a person to turn against his/her own people? Could you be influenced to turn on your own people during a time of war? Are there certain characteristics common amongst these people? (Nessa, Josef, Judenrat) Discuss

9. Was there a part of the story that was particularly moving to you and stayed with you? What was it and why?

10. How can remembering the Holocaust and preserving it as an historical event be portrayed as an act of resistance against the forces that brought it about? Give reasons for your answer.

11. Think about a time in your life when you may have been witness to the unjust and prejudicial treatment of another human being. How did the event affect the person being targeted? How did the event affect those witnessing the injustice? Did the event influence you in any way? Explain in detail.

12. It takes courage to stand up for injustice. Why do some individuals and groups help others in time of crisis while others turn their back? Do you think you could put yourself or your family in danger to help a stranger? Explain in detail.

13. What do you think the author is trying to say about life or people? Explain in detail using evidence from the text and your own ideas. Do you agree or disagree with this viewpoint? Explain.

14. Although the extermination of Jews began years earlier, the Jews of Poland were not prepared for what was to come. You could say they were naive. Is it possible in today’s world for a community to know so little and be so unprepared? Explain.

15. Do we learn from history or does history repeat itself? Explain.

AFTER READING

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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